Worcester Firefighter Christopher Roy's name added to Mass. memorial

Wednesday

BOSTON - Worcester Firefighter Christopher Roy‘s name was added to the the Massachusetts Fallen Firefighters Memorial in Boston on Wednesday during an annual ceremony.

The ceremony, held annually on Sept. 11 outside of the Statehouse, honors firefighters and unveils the names added to the memorial each year. Names are added on stones in the Ring of Honor, a circle that surrounds a 10-foot statue of three firefighters.

“Today marks 12 years since we first unveiled this memorial and gifted it to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts,” Somerville Fire Lt. Jay Colbert said at the ceremony. “The more than 1,000 names on the Ring of Honor represents the bond that firefighters and their families share among one another.”

Firefighter Roy died in December while battling a five-alarm fire at an apartment building on Lowell Street in Worcester. He was 36. He served the Worcester community for two and a half years.

The ceremony began as pipe and drum brigades from Greater Boston, Brockton and Worcester proceeded from Boston Common to the Statehouse. Six members marched in Worcester Fire Brigade Pipes and Drums.

Once the procession reached the Statehouse, the brigade surrounded the memorial, located next to a stage where fire and state officials delivered speeches.

Gov. Charlie Baker made remarks about the fallen firefighters who served during 9/11 and firefighters who responded to the gas explosion and fire in the Merrimack Valley last year. Mr. Baker also gave his condolences to Firefighter Roy’s family - his daughter, parents and brother - who sat in the front row at the ceremony.

“I can’t help, as I look down at Ava, Ron and Michelle, think about the terrible tragedy that took the life of their son and her dad, Chris Roy, earlier last year,” Baker said.

The governor was joined on stage by Lt. Gov Karen Polito, Attorney General Maura Healey, Treasurer Deb Goldberg and other state and fire officials.

“We don’t come because it is a nice day,” Mr. Baker said. “We come because it is our chance, among many others, to say thank you to those who swear the oath, to say thank you to their families for giving them the permission to take on a job that by definition comes with very difficult and dangerous days.”

Firefighter Roy’s family laid roses on the memorial stone bearing his name during the ceremony, and Capt. Robert B. McCarthy, president of the Professional Firefighters of Massachusetts and a board member of the memorial, and Mr. Baker placed a wreath on the memorial.

Michael Papagni, president of Worcester Fire Fighters Local 1009, worked with Firefighter Roy and attended the ceremony with dozens of other Worcester firefighters.

“It is certainly more (emotional) when it is someone you worked with. It’s a tribute to his bravery and the sacrifice he made for the Worcester community,” he said. “This is deserving, and we are glad we can do it for Chris and his family.”

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